Mayor of Doncaster claims government has rejected plans for new A1/A19 link road and bypass around villages

Mayor Jones said she asked for the money to complete the projects as part of South Yorkshire’s £570million settlement from central government for transport projects.

She said that despite the big sum, this pot was over a five year period shared between the South Yorkshire councils and with some allocation ‘not being new amounts of money’.

Doncaster’s share is around £104million over five years and that includes money allocated for highways repairs. It’s been previously said that the borough’s highways backlog is well over £150 million alone.

In terms of highways funding, the mayor said it works out at about £5 million per year over the next five years and that in 2010/2011, Doncaster received the same figure.

The mayor previously increased spending on highways as part of her recent budget to the tune of £6million.

Mayor Jones said: “The £570 million sounds a lot but this is over five years and it’s less than was originally expected because we asked for £660 million for all of South Yorkshire.

“Doncaster’s set to receive about £104 million over five years and that includes for highways maintenance which is more than that alone.

“Some of this money is not new either and it’s packaged up in other pots which is nothing new.

“We’re always happy to receive any money but we do require far more than this.When the settlement was first announced, I put forward more trying to get some new money to support the new A1/A19 link road and also for bypass for Hickleton and Marr.

“It didn’t receive government support, as one of their key requirements was to promote a modal shift from cars to public transport, sadly, but the annoying thing is this would help stimulate the economy.

“It’s a drop in the ocean quite frankly, compared to what we require and we already spend millions on our roads.”

Hickleton, between Doncaster and Barnsley, has been named 'Yorkshire's most polluted village' and residents of the former Hickleton Hall estate village have long campaigned for a bypass. They petitioned the estate's owner, Lord Halifax, for a relief road as far back as 1901.